ABOUT OUR TESTS
What is the Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP)?

The TIMP is a test of functional motor behavior in infants for use by physical therapists, occupational therapists, and other health professionals in special care nurseries and early intervention or diagnostic follow-up settings. The TIMP can be used to assess infants between the ages of 34 weeks postconceptional age and 4 months post-term. The test assesses the postural and selective control of movement needed for functional motor performance in early infancy and has been shown through research to:
 
  1. discriminate among infants with varying degrees of risk for poor motor outcome based on perinatal medical conditions
  2. predict 12-month motor performance with sensitivity 92% and specificity 76% and preschool motor performance with sensitivity 72% and specificity 91% at 3 months of age
  3. be sensitive to the effects of physical therapy provided to high risk infants in the special care nursery or home exercise programs offered to premature infants post-hospital discharge
  4. reflect demands for movement placed on infants by caregivers in daily life interactions
  5. have excellent test-retest and rater reliability in the hands of trained users
  6. diagnose motor developmental delay from 34 weeks postconceptional age through 4 months post term based on age standards developed from a sample of 990 U.S. infants of all races/ethnicities

See our Research page for links to these and other research articles documenting the reliability, responsiveness and validity of the TIMP and its screening version, the TIMPSI. For questions about orders or use of our tests, please contact Carmen at admin@thetimp.com or Gay at gayg@thetimp.com. For use in research, testers should demonstrate scoring reliability. We highly recommend use of our Rasch analysis program for assessing rater consistency and reliability with the IMPS database of reliable testers (see PRODUCTS FOR THERAPISTS ).
Our standards suggest that there should be fewer than 5% misfitting ratings; researchers also regularly report ICCs in the 90s.

Information on the reliability and validity of the TIMP has been made available to Early Intervention personnel in all US states and territories. The TIMP has been approved for eligibility determination for early intervention in Illinois and publications on the TIMP have been featured by the IDEA Partnership of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education. Visit the LEARN THE TESTS page for information on training.

The following are links to other sites on TIMP use in early intervention and research in the U.S.:

Ask whether your state has approved the TIMP for use in early diagnosis of delayed motor development! THE TIMP MUST BE USED ONLY BY PERSONS EXPERIENCED IN THE SAFE HANDLING OF FRAGILE INFANTS.

The TIMP Chinese (Mandarin) version is available for use in mainland China. We worked with the Shenzhen Xinzhi Institute of Psychological Assessment Technology in China to develop a version that has been normed for use in assessing Chinese infants. For more information, please visit the Institute’s website at www.prcmind.com, or contact marywu@prcmind.com.

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The TIMP has also been translated/adapted in the Persian language in Iran (see Ravarian article on Research page) and is also available in Turkish; for more information please access the publisher at
https://www.bobathterapistleri.org/?fbclid=IwAR28FIOTFCWZ9l_mbhFBavt8QBvMi8eUaeySpJLaK8XOje4hHRDQQm2x3Ys

What is the Harris Infant Neuromotor Test (HINT)?
 
The HINT is a neuromotor screening test that can be used with low-risk (typically developing) or high-risk infants ranging in age from 2.5 to 12.5 months. The HINT has been reliably administered by physical therapists, occupational therapists, pediatric nurses, and early childhood special education professionals.  Others who could use the HINT for screening young infants include general practitioners, family physicians, and community health nurses.  Although primarily a neuromotor screening test, the HINT also includes items aimed at identifying early cognitive or behavioral concerns, e.g., stereotypical behaviors, head circumference. As well, the test includes five questions to be administered to the infant’s parent or primary caregiver to reflect their opinions or concerns about the infant’s movement and play.  Through research conducted on the HINT, the test has been shown to:
  1. corroborate parent/primary caregiver’s level of concern about their infant’s movement and play
  2. discriminate between infants at low-risk and high-risk for developmental motor delay at 4, 5, 7, and 8 months
  3. correctly identify infants who do not have a neuromotor delay
  4. have excellent test-retest, inter-rater, and intra-rater reliability among trained users
  5. have predictive correlations equal to or slightly greater than those for the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS)
  6. categorize infants’ levels of motor delay (within normal limits, mild delay, significant delay) the same as with the Bayley-II Motor Scale

Use of The Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP) or its screening version, the TIMPSI, requires the following items:
 
 
  1. Rattle with a soft, not sharp or harsh sound. Maracha toys are suitable as are plastic eggs or boxes filled with popcorn or rice.
  2. Squeaky object with a soft, not whispery nor harsh sound; many 4-5” dog toys from pet stores are useful but latex items must be avoided.
  3. Shiny red ball approximately 55 mm or 2 inches in diameter.
  4. An age calculation wheel that allows automatic calculation of corrected age or chronologic age up to 18 weeks post-term based on expected date of birth is required to accurately evaluate performance against age expectations from the TIMP and TIMPSI normative studies; specially designed wheels for this purpose are available for sale on the TIMP products page. Alternatively, users may use apps designed for mobile devices to calculate corrected age.

Use of the HINT requires the following items:  
  1.  A brightly-colored ring (approximately 4 inches or 10 cm) in diameter, with a 14-16 inch string attached. Note: The ring from the Bayley kit is appropriate to use.
  2. Black-and-white contrasting pictures or designs on 5 by 5 inch cards, e.g., bull’s-eye, black and white squares.Note: The baby book, Black on White by Tana Hoban, can be purchased online for about $6-8 (cheaper for used versions).
  3. Disposable paper tape measures (36-inch) for measuring head circumference. These can be ordered in bulk for about 3-4 cents each. www.nextag.com/paper-tape-measure/shop-html
  4. Head circumference charts for North American infants can be downloaded and printed at no cost from the US Centers for Disease Control website.

Corrected age should be used in plotting head circumference for preterm infants.
• GIRLS (birth to 36 months) www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/set2/chart%2010.pdf
• BOYS (birth to 36 months) www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/set2/chart%2009.pdf For infants born outside of North America, use charts from the World Health Organization.
• GIRLS (birth to 5 years) www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/chts_hcfa_girls_p/en/index.html
• BOYS (birth to 5 years) www.who.int/childgrowth/standards/chts_hcfa_boys_z/en/index.html

 
ITEMS NEEDED FOR TESTING ARE GENERALLY NOT INFANT TOYS AND SHOULD NOT BE USED WITH INFANTS FOR PURPOSES OTHER THAN ASSESSMENT BY QUALIFIED TESTERS.  TESTERS SHOULD BE PROPERLY TRAINED AND QUALIFIED TO HANDLE, EXAMINE AND CARE FOR INFANTS BEING ASSESSED USING IMPS TEST PRODUCTS.
 INFANT MOTOR PERFORMANCE SCALES, LLC. SHALL NOT BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR THE IMPROPER, INAPPROPRIATE OR UNREASONABLE USE OF THE ITEMS REQUIRED FOR TESTING.
 
 
 
 
How to Purchase IMPS Test Products 
 
Visit our Products shopping page, you may use your Mastercard, Visa or
Paypal to purchase test forms, manuals, and other TIMP and HINT products.
We ship via USPS priority mail for both U.S. and international orders
(minimum charge $6.00). All taxes and duties associated with foreign
shipments are the responsibility of the customer.  Institutional purchase
orders are accepted by email to admin@thetimp.com.  Mail orders prepaid with
US funds by check or money order are also accepted at:
Infant Motor Performance Scales, LLC
2222 Robincrest Lane
Glenview, IL 60025-4111
FEIN 36-4479760
gayg@thetimp.com
admin@thetimp.com
 
 
 
 
 

Now Available:
 
The TIMP Online: electronic version of the TIMP (English) with automatic preparation of a narrative report of results in Word format, the percentile rank graph for charting longitudinal performance, and downloadable Excel spreadsheet of all results for administrative tracking, quality assurance and research at https://www.infantmotortest.com . Available now at special one-year subscriber rates.
 
Cost is:
$180.00 USD for individual subscribers (1 user, up to 100 tests per year)
$600.00 USD for institutions (unlimited users and tests at a single institution).  For organizations with multiple sites requiring access, please contact skc@thetimp.com for a price quote. Example TIMP Online reports can be accessed at:  http://demo.infantmotortest.com (email skc@thetimp.com for login access)
    
 

For more information about products or purchase orders, contact admin@thetimp.com; for information about workshops or product licenses for the purpose of incorporating the TIMP or HINT into an EMR system, contact gayg@thetimp.com; for information only about e-Learning courses and lectures, contact skc@thetimp.com.